Tuesday, October 25, 2011

More Stories!

.

I'm in print again -- both virtual and trad. The virtual reprint is my story "The Dead," which originally appeared in Starlight 1 and which is now available on Tor.com. Click here to read it.

Every time "The Dead" is reprinted, I think back to a conversation I had with the late and sorely missed Jim Turner, editor at Arkham House and later Golden Gryphon Press, which he founded. He called me, as he did from time to time, and said, "Listen, Swanwick, I don't have the time for any of your nonsense. I just have a quick question to ask you."

"I just finished a zombie story, Jim," I said.

"That's nice. What I have to ask you is --"

"I'm really pleased with it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The reason I called is --"

"Aren't you going to ask me what the title is?"

A long silence. Then, testily, "All right. What's the title?"

"I called it 'The Dead.'"

In tones of pure outrage, Jim said, "You can't use the title of the single most famous short story in the English language for a zombie story!"

"Well, it was a really good zombie story, Jim."

And so it was.

And on the trad front . . .

"A Midwinter's Tale" has just been reprinted in Alien Contact, edited by Marty Halpern and published by Night Shade Books. A very cool anthology, with stories by the likes of Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Stephen King, among others. You know. My peers.